Every since I stood on the auditorium stage during first grade and declared that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, I have been gravitating towards the graphic arts. During the fifth grade, I brought in a charcoal drawing of a stagecoach pulled by horses for a required school project. I was quite proud of it but, to my horror, the teacher sent me to the principle's office, where upon he called in my mother and insisted she come in. When she arrived, he pressed upon her the importance of students producing their own work and not having parents do there projects for them. When my mother testified that she nor anyone else in the family could have created the drawing, the principle, not convinced, challenged me to draw a large image of the school during school hours. I completed the project and it was hung in the school foyer (my first published work).
I quickly learned that school art projects were a great way to skip class. I honed this tecnique